In 2001 Indianapolis proposed that five central city neighborhoods be designated cultural districts. Taken together, they were home to nearly every significant arts, cultural, heritage, sports, and entertainment venue in the city. The problem? The neighborhoods were poorly connected and lacked an identity. The solution? The Indianapolis Cultural Trail.

Indianpolis Cultural Trail

Completed in 2012, the $63M 8-mile multi-use trail was funded by $27.5M in private and philanthropic support, and $35.5M from federal transportation grants. A recent study has found that since the project announcement and groundbreaking in 2007, property values within 500ft of the trail have increased by 148%, or more than $1 billion.

The trail has increased revenue and traffic for businesses along the route. The average trail user spends $53 at local businesses. 95% of users feel safe using the trail. 40-50 new full-time, and 47 new part-time jobs were added at businesses along the trail since its opening. In Fletcher Place, 73 percent of businesses responding to the study’s survey were established after 2010, well after work on the Cultural Trail began. The trail also provided Indianapolis a natural anchor for it’s 250-bike, 25-station bike share program.

The interesting thing about the Cultural Trail is that it links key neighborhoods and destinations in the central city together. It's not just a great place to walk or bicycle, but something that helps bind the city and its neighborhoods together into a cohesive place. In addition, the trail costs relatively little and has a surprisingly large economic impact.

And what about bike share in St. Louis?

And, as Alex emphasizes, the trail became the core of Indianpolis's bike share system.

As St. Louis dallies along looking for a little bit of money to get its bike share system going, we have to start to wonder--is St. Louis going to be the very last major U.S. city to adopt bike share? Or perhaps just the last in the midwest?